ABSTRACT
Russian artillery pounded hour after hour, day after day, answered sparingly by the Finns. In the afternoon when the "working day" was over, the Russians withdrew some 2.5 miles to their own lines and rested behind their panzers, at which time the Finns returned to their advance positions, often finding materials left there by the Russians. Within a few days of the stalemate's beginning, the situation changed. With fresh Russian troops pouring into the Karelian front, fierce fighting at the main line became almost continuous though the Russians seemed to have no real desire to penetrate the line. Meanwhile at Summa, even as the 2d Army Corps was preparing for the impending attack on the main line, the Russians suddenly captured one of the Finns' forward positions. Orders from Mannerheim's headquarters stated that any Russian tanks aimed at breaching the line must first be confronted by mines, traps, and ditches.
